Surprise! Developers win again!

On a beautiful Friday morning in front of City Hall, beneath the canopy of a live oak tree that’s nearly a century old, Mayor Phil Hardberger and Rep. Mike Villarreal declared war on rogue developers who take advantage of a loophole in the law to evade the city’s tree ordinance. But the mayor, with just a little coaxing after the news conference, acknowledged the harsh political reality that the developers are winning.

Hardberger and Villarreal stood side by side in support of House Bill 2016, sponsored by Villarreal, which would give San Antonio the ability to close the agricultural loophole in its tree ordinance so developers can’t cut down trees by pretending the property they want to build on is a farm or ranch.

The legislation was precipitated in part by a news story in the Express-News last summer. The story, by projects reporter John Tedesco, explained how Laredo banker and developer Hugo Gutierrez used a loophole in the tree ordinance to clear thousands of trees on the West Side by leasing hundreds of acres of land to a rancher, then sought permission for a commercial development.

The article outraged Hardberger, who sung its praises and declared, “We definitely need to close that loophole that’s allowed that to happen.”

But the loophole didn’t get closed — and the likelihood that it will seems small.

On Friday at City Hall, Hardberger said he had investigated the possibility of suing the developer but was advised by City Attorney Michael Bernard that he would lose. He said he considered suing anyway, but decided instead to try to change the state law — which, he acknowledged, is a “tough row to hoe,” an obvious reference to the developer-friendly Texas Legislature.

City officials also tried to push through a change in the local ordinance, but that was rejected by an advisory committee to the Planning Commission. Besides, it looks now to the city’s lawyers that the loophole can’t be closed without pushing the change through in Austin.

Asked during the news conference whether he had a message for developers looking to skirt the law, Hardberger put on his best Clint Eastwood-meets-Jimmy Stewart face and said this: “My message would be, ‘Go and sin no more — because if you do, you’re going to get punished.'”

The line drew laughter and applause from city employees and tree-lovers gathered in the shade, but it’s not entirely clear that what the mayor said was true. A few minutes later, discussing the issue further with a gaggle of journalists, Hardberger acknowledged that, as things stand now, the developers clearly are winning.